Pete Hegseth Photo: US Department of Defense / Alexander Kubitza via FlickrUS Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced at a Pentagon press conference that today will be the “most intense” day of attacks against Iran since the military campaign began.
Hegseth described today’s operation as an unprecedented deployment. It will utilize the largest number of fighter jets, bombers, and intelligence assets to date.
He asserted that intelligence is now “more defined and better than ever,” enabling execution with “ruthless precision.” In contrast, he reported that in the last 24 hours, the lower number of missiles fired by Iran since the beginning of the conflict, suggesting that Tehran’s response capabilities are severely degraded.
The Pentagon chief reiterated that the objectives of the US campaign remain clear and have not changed: To destroy Iran’s missile stockpiles, launchers and its entire defense industrial base, to completely destroy the Iranian navy and to permanently prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Hegseth sought to distance this intervention from past conflicts, such as the invasion of Iraq: He was emphatic in saying: “This is not 2003… This is not an endless nation-building process.”
The objective is the total and decisive defeat of the “enemy” under the timelines set by the United States, without the intention of occupying the territory or managing its internal politics in the long term.
This statement by Hegseth reinforces the Trump administration’s stance of “unconditional surrender,” suggesting that military pressure will not stop until the Iranian command collapses or accepts Washington’s terms.
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